Original parts return

https://www.apple.com/batteries/service-and-recycling/

Legal - Repair Terms and Conditions - Apple

1.3 Parts and Labor. Apple may provide both parts and labor, but may direct that you replace certain readily installable parts yourself, as described below. In servicing your product, Apple may use parts or products that are new or refurbished and equivalent to new in performance and reliability. Apple will retain the replaced part or product that is exchanged during service as its property, and the replacement part or product will become your property. Replaced parts and products are generally repairable and are exchanged or repaired by Apple for value. If applicable law requires Apple to return a replaced item to you, you agree to pay Apple the retail cost of the replacement item and shipping.

You might want to get a different attorney, unless your state has a specific law that forces Apple to return the battery to you then the terms stated under Parts & Labor do apply. What is the section in Pennsylvania law that specifically overrides this?

I do agree that if you took the battery in for service and clearly explained that you wanted the battery returned to you then you might have a complaint with Apple. In that event what Apple should have done was not accepted your iPhone for service and then the discussion is ended. I wasn't there so I have no idea what was said at the time and if this was made clear. Apple stores have cameras and microphones so perhaps they have a record of it.

Note too that because of the glue used in iPhones to hold the battery they are sometimes damaged when removing them and become a high risk product. If they return this to you and you subsequently use the battery in another phone, sell it and the buyer burns down the house with it they are going to sue Apple not you. I would suspect there attorneys are quite aware of this fact.

But have your attorney write a letter to Apple in California and let us know what the results are.

It doesn't matter whether it's warranty or not. Apple doesn't return replaced parts. There's really nothing more anyone here can offer you. If this displeases you, complain to Apple. We are ALL users on this user to user only forum and we don't have any influence on Apple repair policy.

Think about it though. You suggested your battery was at 81% Battery Health. That is the end of the useful life of an iPhone battery. What could you possibly want or need with a battery which is beyond its useful life? You could install that battery in another phone. It could swell, or blow up. You could sue Apple. Why would Apple put themselves in a situation which could lead to that?

Not clear on what you means by "is no state". By submitting an item for repair you agreed to the T&C. Either there is a law in which case you can apply to Apple as indicated in the document, or your state/county/city doesn't have a law and you agreed to surrender the battery as part of the repair process.

Does Apple have to proactively present the part repair option at the time of submitting to repair, or do you have to be proactive at time of submitting and say that per applicable law you want the part returned? Since the T&C say Apple keeps parts because they are generally repairable it may be that is the default procedure and you have to be aware and act upon your local laws if you want a part returned. For car repairs in my state the AG office says, "Before the shop actually begins repairs, you have the right to ask for and receive replaced parts, unless those parts are under warranty or other restrictions. In that case, they must be returned by the shop to the manufacturer, distributor, or other person. You may pay an additional

charge for retrieving parts because the shop usually can sell them. However, if you are not allowed to keep the old parts you will have an opportunity to examine them for up to five business days after the repair." However, that's only for car parts, nor does it specify they have to offer the parts. I have on a very few occasions been able to have a shop accept my parts for use in repair (mostly because the shop could not find them for my model car) but I needed to make clear in advance that I needed the old part returned for me because so I could get my core deposit returned to me from the shop that could supply the part. I had to be proactive in making this known because the standard procedure is for the repair shop to keep the old part.

I do not agree anyone should be able to keep another’s property unless that is stated up front.

But you said in an earlier post you read the terms and conditions and they said that they would keep the part. So it was stated up front. It was something to which you agreed by having them repair the phone, and I guess the only problem was you not reading the terms before submittng the device for service. I don't know that you still have a grounded issue about this. When we bought our house it was stipulated in the contract that we would get the curtains with the house. We did, but if the previous owners had taken them then we could have gone after them legally because they did not surrender what they might have considered to be "their" property. Transfer of ownership of that component was stipulated in the conditions of the contract. I strongly advise that anybody read contracts carefully even if it means standing in a store for 20 minutes doing so.

I think you deserve an apology as this simple inquiry seems to have morphed into a “crab-fest” (aka: cranky, snarky &/or crabby replies given as answers to a perfectly legitimate question). I too have had battery issues with Apple, not that they wouldn’t return my owned yet defective part but that they wouldn’t deem it defective until two days after the Warrenty expired however; I believe in your case, if it’s a safety issue causing them to not return your part (& this is made clear in the agreement?!) then perhaps you could make some kind of deal with Apple for a type of credit should you need any future technical support from Apple regarding “part replacement” since it is your property and it seems to be that they can’t return it due to restrictions put in place by a government entity making it something that’s out of your &/or Apple’s control? Maybe the old saying “you get more flies with honey then with vinegar (which in the case of fruit flies isn’t technically right but for the sake of argument, LoL) maybe a written letter(if an email hasn’t gotten the attention you feel it should have?) from you detailing your situation and that you understand the restrictions where returning a potentially “toxic part” via USPS isn’t viable... then include a reasonable price comparison between the part and cost of service to replace said part ($of battery vs $per hour to test/replace part by a technician) so that you come to a fairly accurate dollar amount for which you could get a “credit voucher” to be used towards the cost for any possible future support needs you might have...

I’m sure you get the picture & I know this requires a lot more work on your part but I’ve found that it’s exactly that for which you are being denied any type of resolution to your situation that’s satisfactory for all parties involved. It’s pretty much this: if it means that much to you then you won’t mind the extra work you’ve had to put into figuring out the dollar amount you’ve concluded is reasonable when comparing a battery’s worth vs a tech’s time for repairs in a similar scenario. Then make sure your request for credit is as detailed as any algorithm a tech would understand (LoL!) so there’s no confusion about what you are proposing as a solution that everyone can agree upon. It’s unfortunate that you have to show them exactly how serious you are before they begin to really pay attention to your specific issue and you have to do most of the work but it’s just the nature of the beast so to speak & ya gotta do what ya gotta do if you want what you think you should be compensated for in the way of financial reimbursement for your personal property. I’m only chiming in with this suggestion because it’s worked for me in the past and I didn’t like the way the people started to be getting “frustrated” in their replies when you only asked a simple question that I don’t think was completely understood by those answering: it’s my property and if they can’t return it due to the law then what (?!?) you’re supposed to just write of the dollars invested in said property? Isn’t there another way to get compensation for your property that you delivered but are being told cannot safely be returned?). Hopefully this helps to get you some kind of satisfaction in a truly frustrating situation and that to the people in this thread who tried helping by offering their suggestions or giving you some information they know to be true regarding similar situations but apparently only got more frustrated by your repeated attempts at trying to explain it in more detail (honestly, it’s the emotional aspect of the situation that’s not being considered by the “support” in the thread & I think that’s simply just a generational thing, they simply don’t have as much of an “attachment” to their money {or grasp how hard you’ve had to work for it} as someone of an older more “non-digital” generation would).

I do hope you get a resolution you’re happy with and I didn’t upset or “diss” anyone in this thread as that was not my intention. I only hoped to offer an alternative option that wasn’t being considered as a way to resolve your issue. If you can’t get your property back then perhaps at least you can get something that represents the monetary value of that property(?). No disrespect or anything like it intended and if you felt that I did I’ll apologize for it now. Good luck! TTFN KLP

It’s relevant as far as describing the circumstances that Apple would replace the battery under warranty if it fell below the designed percentage DURING the 1 year warranty period (or the AppleCare+ active period if applicable). If it is out of warranty then “defect” isn’t really a thing unless something was going on where it deemed defective and recalled (such as spontaneous fire hazard...just an example). Did you opt to get it electively replaced as you stated due to defect you perceived (since it was not quite 80% or below so it still technically fell in the useful parameters Apple has listed) or because it wasn’t staying charged as long as you would have liked so you saw it worth it to replace? You keep stating defect but unless you failed to share something there wasn’t a defect in the first place....just nearing the end of its intended usefulness (although to be honest, we could keep using it well beyond that point...just with the inconvenience of needing to charge more often).

As far as Apple stating anywhere that they can or will keep parts....looks like someone shared that with you...the one that is not limited to warranty repairs. At this point you’ve opted to go through an attorney to try and get the battery back. Hope that works out for you but unless this is just a principal based pursuit you’re going to end up paying a lot more than the battery was worth in attorneys fees...unless you have a generous attorney that is doing this all pro Bono as I can’t imagine a scenario where this turns into a lawsuit with a payout. At most, you get the battery back if possible or a refund for the service. I’d imagine the attorney fees would be more than that (assuming they are an attorney that charges their worth based on your area). Not knocking your desire by any means. If it’s that serious of an issue for you then maybe it’s worth the money spent to prove a point. Good luck either way. I know you said Apple is working with you to resolve but I’m curious if by resolve you’re looking for something more than an old battery that you can’t use in any other capacity and was just 1% above the threshold of usefulness...short of selling it to someone else or if you have an issue with the replaced battery attempting to swap the two out yourself for a temporary fix assuming the old one retains the 81% level until the time you need it. My curiosity isn’t meant to imply you NEED to provide your intent of course...it really doesn’t matter to anyone but you. It’s just a very passive curiosity 😂. Whatever ends up happening in the end definitely share. Might be an interesting read if nothing else.

No, Apple is not obligated to return the replaced part to you

Well there's your answer. If you read the terms and it says parts won't be returned, parts won't be returned. You agreed to that when you gave your phone to Apple for the battery to be replaced. If you want more information, then take it up with Apple directly.

Techgeekinquiry wrote:

apologies KaeBFly...am failing to understand relevance of above info.

If I read correctly above says the battery should retain 80% capacity after 500 charge cycles.

Above does not say battery is defective when you reach 80%. Also does not say apple may keep a battery they do not own b/c it has 80% capacity.

The battery is not defective at 80%. It is just no longer fit for use. Apple has built in a feature to throttle down the phone once the battery health drops below 80% as it can no longer be relied on to support full performance. And, it has been pointed out where Apple doesn't return parts when they do a repair. The battery is a part. Replacing a worn-out battery is a repair. Ergo, you don't get the old battery back. But, for anything more, you're really going to need to discuss this with Apple directly.

Is there an applicable state or local law where you live? If there is no law then you made an agreement to surrender the battery. If there is a law then contact Apple about this. We have directed you to the document that seems to cover this situation. How you interpret that, or wish not to, is up to you. As already observed, we are users, just like you. Our opinions have absolutely zero bearing on this. We have let you know what we think your chances are, and why, but in the end it matters not in the least. You can do as you wish and at from this point it is between you and Apple.

Incidentally, realize it may be too late to recover your particular battery, plus you do not stand to make any monetary gain since even if Apple has it you would have to pay them as indicated in the document. I guess you could have it framed and hang it on the wall.

I don't know if this is Apple's policy but with car parts, including batteries, for example, the price you see is based upon a "core" (- the broken part) return. I bought a battery from my local gas station but wanted to install it myself. They charged me a more than normal fee but refunded $25 when I brought the bad battery to them. The same may apply to other car parts. I bet if you read Apple's fine print legal documents about service they would likely include a statement about them keeping all parts.

Because Apple doesn’t sale parts to customers. Returning the battery along with replacing it with one in your phone would theoretically be the same as selling you one because the only thing you could possibly intend to do with it is attempt a future self service (which is not something that is intended to be doable) or resell the battery for someone else to try the same thing. Not something Apple supports.

The other issue with specifically returning soft packaged device-shape-conformed lithium polymer batteries to owners is the fact the battery package is not terribly robust and the inner contents are very toxic. So there very well may be regulations about giving those back to people as they can be inherently dangerous. And they are unusable for anything but that specific model of iPhone anyway as they are conformed to fit in the device they are configured for, not anything else.